Southern Lights: A Novel

“Now, Mom, stop with your thing about the South. You just had rotten luck here.” Savannah never failed to call her on it, and part of Alexa knew she was right. The other part hated the South too much to care.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever” was all she answered, as they stopped in a shop to buy lotions and makeup. They were having a totally girly weekend, just like they did in New York when they both had time, which was never often enough for Alexa. Savannah had a much busier social life than she did, and her mother was sure she would in Charleston soon too.

Their massages at the spa at the Wentworth Mansion were sheer heaven. They had their nails done, and padded back to their suite in rubber flip-flops with cotton between their toes. Alexa had made a reservation at Circa 1886 for dinner. It was in the former carriage house of their hotel and Alexa had never been there. But for most of the day, they had stopped at her old favorite places. And just as she had thought, it was bittersweet being there. She had lived there as a young wife and new mother, and since then her life had changed completely. They saw no familiar faces other than Julianne and Shelly, but Alexa was startled and touched when Travis called her. He apologized for being out of touch for so long. He said he’d love to see her the next time, but was in a tennis tournament at the club that weekend. He made a point of saying that Savannah was a fantastic girl, and he was happy to talk to Alexa. He was every bit as polite as his father, she just hoped he was more sincere. He mentioned that he was getting married in June and wanted Savannah to be there.

Savannah had told her that she really liked Scarlette, and Travis had been really nice to her. She hadn’t met Henry yet, but he was supposedly coming home for a weekend soon. He was living in New Orleans, and working for an art dealer there, but that was all she knew.

Their dinner that night was even better than they’d been promised. And they both wore dresses they’d bought that afternoon. By the time they got back to their hotel room, they were happy and exhausted. The only bad part of the evening was knowing that Alexa was leaving the next day. Neither of them wanted to think about it yet.

They decided to go to church the next morning before going to brunch at Baker’s Café.

They went to St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, where Alexa told Savannah she’d been christened, and slipped into a pew. It was a serious, traditional service, with beautiful organ music, and on the way out, Alexa and Savannah were holding hands and feeling good. They had just shaken hands with the minister outside the church, when suddenly someone ran up to Savannah, threw their arms around her waist, and nearly knocked her over. She tried to regain her balance and composure, and turned to see who it was and found herself looking down into Daisy’s face, who looked immensely pleased.

“What are you doing here?” Savannah asked, still startled, and then introduced Daisy to her mother, who looked equally surprised but smiled at Daisy warmly. She was a very cute kid, and obviously crazy about Savannah. Alexa didn’t have time to absorb what this child had meant in her own life and how she had been used. She was just a little girl in pigtails with a huge grin.

“My mom and I come here every Sunday, almost,” Daisy explained to Savannah and then turned to her mother with interest. “Savannah says you’re going to put a very, very bad man in prison.”

“I’m trying,” Alexa said, smiling at her, and then added, “That’s why Savannah’s here, so he can’t hurt her.”

“I know,” Daisy said, looking important. “She told me all about it, and about you.” She smiled broadly at Alexa again.

“She told me about you too,” Alexa said warmly, completely ignoring who she was and who she belonged to. Daisy had a sweetness of her own that obscured all else. She was impossible to resist. Her face lit up at what Alexa had just said to her. She looked immensely pleased.

“She did?” Daisy asked happily. “I really, really love her,” she said, putting her arm around her sister’s waist again, as a voice behind them flew between them like a spear.

“Daisy! Take your hands off Savannah immediately!” the voice said sharply. Savannah knew who it was before she turned around to look, and Alexa could guess. “That’s no way to behave at church.” It was Luisa, glaring at the three of them with a venomous look, which was no way to behave at church either, Alexa thought to herself.

“Church is over, Mama. This is the part where everyone is friendly,” Daisy insisted, with good reason. Apparently, Luisa had not come to church for that part, and surely not with these two women. She looked right through Savannah and Alexa, as though they didn’t exist, as she scolded her child. Savannah decided to try and take the heat off Daisy.